We’ve dug around Japan’s glass scene a bit more and have visited studios, museums and schools.

In typical spring weather, from wonderful sunshine to unending downpours, we went from Minu to Fukui, Kanazawa, via Notojima and on to Toyama.

There are two studios near Fukui: Heroshi Yamano’s called ‘Ezra’ in Awara and Watari Glass Studio right by the sea near Ayukawa, run by Watario and Yoko Hasegawa.

Our next stop was the Utatsuyama Crafts Workshop situated on a hill in Kanazawa. They offer a scholarship including two years’ free use of the workshop. This is not just for glass but also other crafts, however they also have a fully equipped glass studio. As we hadn’t contacted anyone here beforehand, we marched straight in and were met with lots of curious questions.

Next on the list was a small island with nothing much on it apart from an impressive glass museum. We were dripping wet as we reached Notojima. Big glass sculptures are dotted around the grounds of the museum and inside there are four rooms depicting different subjects to do with glass. There’s a shopping centre right next door and a small studio for tourists.

Afterwards we made our way to the most famous glass location in Japan, Toyama. Upon arrival we realised we had hit the first day of the holidays and so everything was really quiet. This peaceful place is outside Toyama city and has an impressive four glass studios: one is at the school, one at the Experiment Centre for tourists, and two at Toyama Glass Studios. At the latter you can rent time at the furnace very cheaply. The Experiment Centre is similar in layout, structure and program to the museums we’ve seen in Tacoma and Corning in America. The school has been running for 20 years and offers two different two-year programs. For some of the teaching posts they appoint new staff every three years, often with international candidates. They offer an ‘Artist in Residence’ program along with student accommodation.

Due to the constant rain, we occasionally had to abandon hitchhiking and took the train instead. It took us a while to figure out that the Japanese always sit on the train facing the direction of travel. First we thought that a lot of people wanted to get on and off at one particular stop. However when one lady first didn’t stop talking to Franca in Japanese, then pulled away the computer to fold back the table and turned the double seat around, we finally understood what was going on. It was all a bit cramped and all of our stuff was scattered about and in everyone’s way, from changing the seat. We went back and forth between the seats until we had gathered all of our things together again.